Sailor says goodbye to USS Enterprise

Ray Godfrey could feel the USS Enterprise slow from his station below the steel flight deck. It was 1964, and the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier was meeting two other nuclear-powered carriers in the Mediterranean Sea.

“We got everything we would need — supplies and whatnot — for a trip around the world,” Godfrey said. “No refueling, no resupplying. The trip was to prove nuclear power.”

The all-nuclear-powered unit made up the U.S. Navy’s Task Force One. They were set to travel 30,565 miles over a year.

Godfrey’s world on the ship was a roughly 60-by-60 foot engine room as one of the Enterprise’s first nuke machinist mates.

He said while the ocean separated the crews from the politicians and press, “we knew the world was watching.”

Today, Godfrey is flying from his Bigfork home to Norfolk, Virginia, to watch the ship’s decommissioning after its more than half a century life on sea.

AT 17, Godfrey left his name and address at the post office for an air force recruiter to find him. He lived in northern Wyoming and was looking for a career after dropping out of high school.

As he worked as a farm hand — like most of his family had — he understood how to make machines work. Godfrey envisioned a future of helping aircrafts reach the sky. But one afternoon after work, a man in a Navy uniform stood before him.

“The Navy recruiter saw my name in the post office and decided he’d come see me, said I could move over into Air Force from the Navy, so I took it as my chance,” Godfrey said.

His initial test in the military pointed him toward a career in engineering.

Four years later, Godfrey re-enlisted in the Navy under the promise of becoming one of the commissioning members of a historic crew. He was selected as the top 10 percent of the U.S. Navy’s engineers to train in the nuclear power school.

He first saw the USS Enterprise as its finishing touches were being added in Newport News, Virginia.

“The first time I’d seen it, I’d seen the port side of it, and it was totally painted in red, lead paint,” he said. “It was just one big red lead thing. Visualize 1,123-feet-long, that’s a little over three football fields.”

The U.S. Navy has had eight ships named the Enterprise.

The first was commandeered from the British in the early stages of the Revolutionary War by Benedict Arnold, before America had a navy and before the commander had the reputation as a notorious traitor. The seventh Enterprise was an aircraft carrier that’s regarded as the most decorated warship in U.S. history as it survived in the Pacific during World War II.

The most recent ship’s design replaced conventional boilers that had powered warships for decades with eight reactors — two reactors for each of its four propeller shafts. At the time, tt was faster, taller and longer than any warship the United States had launched before.

Godfrey attended the commission of the Enterprise on Nov. 25, 1961. Soon after, he began to move into his space under the flight deck.

“More crew members were coming each day as the ship moved closer to being ready,” he said. “It’s like moving into a house that’s being built, and you’re living in the utility room … but the whole rest of the house is being built around you.”

The newly-christened USS Enterprise left the shipyard for Navy pre-acceptance trials. When the ship entered its high-speed run test Godfrey said the two destroyers accompanying the trial sent a message to the captain.

“They said, ‘we’re tired, wet and can’t keep up with you. Returning to port,’” Godfrey said. “The idea that you could outrun destroyers, it was incredible.”

According to department documents, Destroyer Laffey sent the message; “Subject: Speed Trails. 1. You win the race. 2. Our wet hats are off to an area thoroughbred.”

In October 1962, Enterprise was dispatched to its first international crisis — the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

When the ship left the pier for the mission, Godfrey said all the crew knew was that they were headed out to sea.

“They gave some excuse, like weather, for the move,” he said. “We knew we were headed south because we knew we were getting in warmer waters.”

They realized their purpose as President Kennedy’s speech announcing the Cuban Blockade rang over the ship’s speakers.

At the start of the Vietnam War, the Enterprise became the first nuclear-powered vessel to see combat service.

On her first return home, traffic stopped along the Golden Gate bridge as the Enterprise pulled through the strait. Crowds waved “welcome home” signs as they waited to greet the sailors, marines and airmen on board.

“I didn’t get to see all of it that day, I was in my engineering space below,” Godfrey said. “But the papers had pictures the next day. It felt good.”

AFTER FIVE years on the Enterprise, Godfrey was tired of life on a ship.

But nearly two decades after he separated from the ship, Godfrey decided he wanted to help record its history. He was among the founders of the USS Enterprise Association, which Godfrey explained existed to “continue the name of the Enterprise.”

His wife, Dee, smiled and said, “He did it out of respect for the history the ship carriers.”

The husband and wife duo have worked to support the Naval Historical Foundation, with Godfrey working as a curator for the organization. They helped research prisoners of war to create a Hall of Heroes on the ship. They also fundraised and pulled pieces from all eight Enterprise ships to create the Enterprise Room — a room that gave life on the ships through the decades, from flight jackets and sailor uniforms to letters and photos.

In 2004, Godfrey took to the sea once more as a guest to the ship’s captain. He found his old spot on the ship’s fantail, where 40 years before he watched the ship’s wake in between flight operations.

He said as he prepares to say goodbye to the Enterprise this week, he’s carrying the memories of those who served with him and after him.

“It’s not official or anything, but I feel as if I represent all of the plankowners,” he said, using the title of a member of the crew as the ship was placed in commission. “I appreciate all the time, love and care that the 100,000-plus sailors gave the Enterprise over her half-century of service.”

Godfrey likes to explain he’s watched the eighth Enterprise’s sunrise and sunset. He said he witnessed its sunrise from the engine room on its first deployment. In March 2012, he said he watched her sunset as she took to sea for her last deployment.

“It was hard to realize it was its last deployment, but well deserved — it was designed for 25 years, it lasted for 50,” he said. “I had never seen it deploy before. It’s hard to explain watching it go from the pier, it was a different view.”

After supporting operations in the Mediterranean and the Arabian Seas, the Enterprise returned to Norfolk in November 2012, which marked the 25th homecoming in her 51 years of service.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.